Sunday, December 28, 2014

I've been trying to go for more walks and instead of just wasting my time I decided to take my camera and try to load up on reference photos for art and modeling. There's some work being done on the shopping center near me and there's a beautifully rusted cement hopper that I decided needed recorded. Hopefully it be some interesting reference or inspiration for you. Here's the pics:

Thursday, December 11, 2014

It's no secret that the Warbots conceived and sculpted by John Dennett and produced by Grenadier Miniatures are some of my favorite miniatures ever. John also created some great color cover art for the boxed sets as well as the fun information sheets that came with them.But what even I didn't know is that he had also created pen and ink artwork of the Warbots. This art was to be used in the Mayfair Games game to be called Warbots, which was based on John's creations. Thanks to John Dennett for sharing these and allowing me to post them on the blog and to Jeff R. Leason for giving some more info on the great sounding game that should have been.

An unproduced Warbots design from the Grenadier Bulletin. Perhaps a new Battle Trooper?Scan by Ray Miller.

The original announcement the started my Warbots obsession. Is that an OGRE GEV without engines?Scan by Ray Miller.

Cover art for the Runner Pod Attack Team.

Information sheet that came with the Runner-Pod Attack Team. Scans courtesy of Ray Miller.

Cover art for the Armored Destro Squad.

Squad markings and color schemes for various units within the Warbots world.

Advertisement for Warbots Role Playing Game by Mayfair Games from Dragon Magazine, April 1985. Scan courtesy of Philip Reed.

Following is the artwork that John recently scanned and shared with us. I'm hoping to color some of them at some point and to make images showing each mecha in various squad markings.

Battle Trooper Type IV

Activoid Shifter MK IIA code name Cobra.

Activoid Shifter MK I code name Viper.

Activoid Shifter MK II code name Sidewinder.

Runner Pod Type "B" code name Saracin.

Runner Pod Type "A" code name Vigilante.

Destro Walker Pulverisor.

Destro Walker Devastator.

Destro Walker Eliminator.

Sonic-pulse Saucer. From John Dennett:"They were to be drones that accompanied the "Runner-Pods" & the "Activoid-Shifters" into the battle zones taking aim at mine fields and faster enemy land and air threats. I never got to the point of sculpting them but you can see two of them in action on the "Runner-Pod Attack Team" box art."

Dread-naut Land-Leveler. These were meant to be three times the size of the Destroid Squad Walkers but were never produced.

Check out my earlier posts for painted versions of the Destro Walkers minis. All of these minis are now available from Mirliton here.

And check out the amazing stuff that John Dennett is creating at Moondevil Studio.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Just a couple of short videos to show the first shipment of CAV mecha from the Reaper Kickstarter campaign. Overall they're really neat minis at an extremely low price.The next one shows how interchangeable the pieces are.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Just a quick post about a couple of pieces I've digitally colored lately.

The first is an Adventure Square from TSR originally printed on the back of Star Frontiers Miniature blistercards.

The computer screen says "SATHAR ARE STINKY".

Always with the Dralasites. The place is lousy with them.

The original art.

The second is a FireHawke RepulsorTank from the West End Star Wars Miniatures supplement Imperial Entanglements. I use these pieces to practice my coloring plus it's just fun to revisit this classic art.

With a blue Imperial symbol as per the description in the book. The templates by Stephen Crane, as seen below, are incredibly precise and filled with cool details. The book contains extensive descriptions of the unit markings and other information about this particular unit, the Hell's Hammers.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Back to the vintage Star Frontiers minis. This time it's the massive, powerful, deadly, but still cute as a button Megasaurus. Mostly damp-brushing and washes for this fellow along with static grass and jute twine weeds for the base. I like this mini a lot but I'm not sure it captures the dread and fear these creatures are supposed to inspire.

Monday, November 17, 2014

I just added a bunch of new designs to our Spreadshirt Store if you need some clothing to cover your shameful nakedness. Featuring character from RSquared comics and games as well as general geekery.Check them out here: http://roeshirts.spreadshirt.com/

Yva, Zombie Plague and other favorites plus some new designs!

My tribute to the under-appreciated Destroids of the Macross series.

Whether sitting on the steps of Capitol Hill or sitting on the steps of The Lonely Mountain he's Just a Billbo.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Finally got some paint on these bad boys and am pretty happy with them. Again, I'm super impressed with the decals for these. The hips and ankles are held together with wire and I'm still not sure how the legs are supposed to be positioned. That would be a great bit of information for the manufacturers to share. Oh, and the bases are so unique that they are DOUBLE BEVELED!